weekly assignment(6):work teams in schools

Work Teams in Schools

學校工作團隊

What Factors Ensure a Quality Team?

保證優質團隊的因素是甚麼？

Two factors are essential to a quality team: bonding and cohesiveness (Cunningham and Gresso). Both establish a sense of team culture. "The strength and potential of the team," write Cunningham and Gresso, "develops once people join together to form a single, united, and cohesive culture." A team with a strong culture has several qualities: "purposefulness, pride, con-fidence, enthusiasm, empowerment, commitment, loyalty, and satisfaction" (Cunningham and Gresso).

優質團隊的兩個基本因素：締結關係和凝聚力(Cunningham and Gresso)。這兩項因素建立了一種團隊文化感。Cunningham and Gresso寫道：團隊的優勢和潛能的發展是當人們一起參與形成了一個單一的、聯合的、以及融合的文化。一個有強烈文化的團隊擁有許多品質：目的、自尊、自信、熱誠、增能賦權、承諾、忠誠和滿足感。(Cunningham and Gresso)

Bonding ensures that team members will commit their time, knowledge, skills, and energy to the team and its goals, say Cunningham and Gresso. "Bonded" team members are more enthusiastic, and more loyal to the school and the team. Members can begin this bonding process during the very first meeting, as they evaluate their purpose, goals, roles, and individual and group responsibilities.

Cunningham and Gresso說：締結關係能確保團隊成員將投入她們的時間知識技能和精力道團隊和它的目標裡。”有擔保的”團隊成員更加熱誠並且對學校和團隊更忠誠。當成員們評估他們的目的、目標、角色和個人及團隊責任時，可以打從最初的會議期間中締結這種關係。

Cohesiveness is defined by Cunningham and Gresso as a "sense of togetherness, or community, within a group. A cohesive group is one in which there are incentives for remaining in the group and a feeling of belongingness and relatedness among the members." Cohesive teams are effective teams.

Cunningham and Gresso將凝聚力定義為一種”同為一個群體的患難與共或者社群知覺”。一個凝聚力強的團體是團體中維持和成員間歸屬和關係的感覺。”凝聚力強的團隊是有效能的團隊”。

To promote high-quality communication and cohesiveness, the Institute for Educational Leadership (1994) offers the following tips: limit talking time by remembering there are others in the group, don't interrupt, listen actively, allow others to be silent if they wish but try to elicit their views by asking questions or inviting their opinions, encourage rather than dominate, offer only constructive criticism, accept others' opinions even if you don't agree with them, and support those who are unfairly attacked.

提升高品質的溝通和凝聚力，教育領導機構（1994）提供了下列一些訣竅：在意是到有其他人在團隊中時，要限制發言時間，不能中途插話，要仔細聽，讓其他人保持安靜，假如他們想要試著透過問問題或提意見來表達他們的觀點，鼓勵而不是控制，只提供建設性的批評，接受其他人建議，即使你不認同他們，並且支持那些受到無理攻擊的同伴。

What Are the Best Strategies for Forming a Team?

型塑一個團隊的最佳策略是甚麼？

First and foremost, all team members must clearly understand the team's mission. Members should be able to answer the question "Why am I here?" says Margot Helphand (1994). Next, determine team members' roles--especially choosing a facilitator, a recorder, and a process observer. Other essential steps are to outline respon-sibilities of the team and determine team composition, deadlines, and expected outcomes (Snyder and Anderson).

Margot Helphand (1994)說：首先，所有團隊成員必須清楚明白團隊的的使命。成員應該能夠回答”我為什麼在這裡？”這個問題。再者，決定團隊成員角色—特別是選擇一個促進者、紀錄員、以及一位過程觀察員。其他基本步驟是需要去勾勒團隊的責任並決定團隊成員，最後期限，以及期待的成果。(Snyder and Anderson)

Hiring a professional to train team members at the outset is a good idea. Effective teams must be aware of both content (the work they do) and process (how they structure the work they have to do). "A part of the culture of a group is to talk about the structure of their work and process," says Vollmer.

剛開始時雇用一位專家去訓練團隊成員是一個相當不錯的主意。有效能的團隊必須對內容（他們的工作）和過程（他們如何架構自己必須做的工作）這兩者有所認知。Vollmer說：一個團體文化的一部分是去談論關於他們的工作的架構和過程。

Trainers can also enhance team members' understanding of group dynamics and communication skills. One thing members will learn may surprise them: conflict can be good. As Ernie R. Keller, a team trainer in the Wasco-Region 9 Education Service District in The Dalles, Oregon, explains, "Conflict is a powerful engine. Sometimes the fact that there's a conflict might be the very reason people show up for a meeting" (personal communication, August 15, 1995). And conflict often can lead to consensus. Trainers will show teams how and why to reach consensus, as well as to "respect one another's styles, speak honestly, and advocate the team's decisions to our constituencies" (Robert Kessler 1992).

訓練者也能夠促使團隊成員在團隊動力上和溝通技巧上的了解。成員將會學到一件讓他們吃驚的事：衝突可能是有益的。如奧瑞岡州達拉斯的Wasco第九教育服務區的一位團隊訓練者Ernie R. Keller解釋說：衝突是一顆有力的引擎。有時候衝突的事實可能是非常理智的人在會議上的一種表現（個人溝通，8月15日，1995）。而且衝突時常到最後會達成共識。訓練者將展示給團隊看如何和為什麼會達成共識，也就是去“尊敬彼此的行事作風，誠實發言，並且擁護全體成員的團隊決定”。（Robert Kessler，1992）